Chapter 346
Chapter 346
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 346
Chapter Title: Divine Transcendence (3)
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Her peers looked at her with envious eyes.
“Tess, I've been meaning to say, you have a really great body. Do you work out separately or something?”
“Work out? It's hard enough just keeping up with training. Besides, it's not all that great. It just gets in the way during close-quarters combat like today.”
Her peer gave her a sympathetic smile, as if she understood.
“You meet all sorts of guys. Some try to touch you on the sly. Of course, if they tried that with me, I'd break their backs.”
Another peer chimed in.
“It's true that it puts you at a disadvantage. We have to compete in strength against muscle-bound freaks who live on ten meat-only meals a day.”
Tess, wearing a tank top, spoke as she put on her training uniform.
“Well, there are events that favor women anyway. In any case, it's the final evaluation, so let's do our best.”
“Yeah. Once we get our leave, I'm just going to sleep. And lose some of this muscle. I'm definitely getting a boyfriend this year.”
The peer, now changed, asked while doing some light stretches.
“Speaking of which, how are things with you, Tess? Are you and Rian still in the same place? That guy is so clueless.”
Bending her knee back, Tess pulled her foot toward her hip and burst out laughing.
“Haha! It's fine. Rian has big dreams. If my boyfriend succeeds, that's a good thing for me.”
“Ugh. Don't be like that. Try playing hard to get. A guy should be bowing down in gratitude to have a girl as pretty as you like him.”
“I'm really fine. It's not like he's going anywhere.”
She laughed it off in front of her friends, but deep down, she didn't feel that way. Lately, Rian had become quieter than before. He clearly had something on his mind, but he wouldn't talk about it at all.
‘What is it? Is he really going to be like this even with me?’
She decided to bear with it until today. Their leave started tomorrow, so she figured she could comfortably ask him about it then, no matter how serious his worries were.
As she left the locker room, cadets were heading down the hall toward the training grounds. A man emerged from the crowd and approached Tess. She immediately showed her displeasure, but he, accustomed to her scorn, spoke to her with a gentle gaze.
“Hello, Tess. Fancy seeing you here.”
“We're in the same building, so of course we'd see each other. Anyone would think we'd just run into each other in hell.”
The man's name was Bauer. He was from a first-class family, and his father was the current Vice Minister of Defense for Tormia.
His father was a long-time comrade-in-arms with Tess's father, a colonial commander, so he had known Tess since they were young.
With his square jaw, blond hair, and deep-set eyes, he was undeniably attractive. He had a well-defined physique and outstanding swordsmanship, and rumors in high society said that marriage proposals were already pouring in.
But Bauer considered Tess his number one choice to be his woman. The prestige of the Eljain family was significant, but her beautiful face and stunning figure left nothing to be desired in a partner.
“Tess. How about dinner tonight? To celebrate training hard for the past six months.”
“Sorry, but no. I have plans with Rian.”
“Don't lie. Every cadet knows that guy won't accept you. Why are you like this? We're old friends, we can at least have dinner together.”
“I don't want to. I don't like you, and I don't want Rian to even think about you. So let's forget our old friendship and pretend we don't know each other.”
Bauer sighed. He couldn't understand why Tess, who was smart and discerning, was so fixated on Rian.
He had little skill, and more importantly, no future. How could a swordsman who couldn't even use Schema become a commander?
“Tess, you need to think carefully. How long are you going to act like a child? You have dreams, too. With me, you can achieve them. Rian can never make you happy.”
Tess pressed her lips together, as if the words weren't even worth a response. Bauer could feel the impenetrable wall in her eyes. But the more she resisted, the stronger his desire to possess her grew.
“Tess, what are you doing? Let's go.”
Tess's cold expression instantly brightened. Without so much as a goodbye to Bauer, she ran to Rian, who was waiting at the end of the hall.
‘That bastard...!’
Bauer trembled with humiliation, glaring at Rian. But as always, Rian simply dispersed the killing intent with an indifferent gaze and turned away.
Rian and Tess walked in silence. Rian had been taciturn lately, and Tess was anxious that he might be bothered by her interaction with Bauer.
Only after they were outside the building did Rian speak.
“Was Bauer bothering you again?”
Tess hurriedly waved her hands in denial.
“No. What could he possibly do to bother me? You're not worried, are you? I told him not to even talk to me anymore.”
“Don't worry. I'm not.”
Tess pouted. It would be a headache if Rian were concerned about Bauer, but hearing his indifferent reply made her feel like she was being treated as insignificant, and it soured her mood.
“Rian. Lately...”
“I wonder how much stronger Shirone has gotten.”
Tess fell silent. What had she been expecting? From the beginning, there had been no place for her in Rian's thoughts.
The reason Rian pushed himself through extreme training every day was to become a knight worthy of standing beside the rapidly growing Shirone.
For a master and servant bound by a knight's oath, it was only natural.
However, Shirone was also a precious friend to her, and the problem was that she sometimes forgot the nature of their relationship.
Tess shook off her disappointment and patted Rian's shoulder.
“He's probably gotten incredibly strong. Shirone is a genius, after all. But you've given it your all, too. If he saw you now, he'd be shocked speechless.”
Rian gave a bitter smile. Every time he pushed himself to his limits, he was reminded of Shirone's extraordinary nature.
But now, he was beginning to see the answer to his long-standing dilemma. He would no longer be conflicted.
“Yeah. I'll have to give him a proper surprise.”
When they entered the training grounds, many cadets were already gathered. By the end of the day, the achievements of the kingdom's most promising knight aspirants would once again be stamped onto a single report card.
Tess had ranked high in most evaluations and was already firmly in the top group.
Rian, on the other hand, still couldn't escape last place.
“Company, attention!”
As Kuan entered the training grounds, all the cadets stood up. The nervous looks they had on their first day were gone, replaced by a disciplined spirit.
“At ease. Today's evaluation is wrestling. You're all aware, I assume?”
“Yes, sir!”
The unified response echoed through the grounds.
It was a response that would have satisfied even the strict Kuan, but as it was the most unpleasant day of the year for him, his tone was sharp.
“What are you waiting for? Shirts off.”
Buttons were undone as if in a race. The men, revealing their bare torsos, stood unflinching in the cold, their attention fixed on Kuan.
Not a single one turned their gaze to the female cadets. It was a disrespectful act for those receiving knight training, and even if they had such vulgar thoughts, getting caught by Kuan would be the end of them.
However, Kuan didn't particularly restrict the men from sizing each other up. That, after all, was the belligerence of males, a wild instinct.
As the evaluation period approached, the number of cadets using the communal baths decreased significantly. The body is honest, revealing the results of one's training.
Revealing one's physique before a competition was strategically unwise. This was why the wrestling evaluation, which required removing one's shirt, was held on the final day.
The cadets' gazes were focused on Bauer's body. His large muscles were so defined they looked like armor, and the trapezius muscles starting from his neck were intimidating just to look at.
‘He's bulked up like crazy. How much did he build in just a month?’
‘He's a human golem. If you get caught by him, you won't even be able to find your bones.’
In terms of sword technique, Tess, who wielded a rapier, was number one, but in terms of physical ability, Bauer, who hoped to become a heavy infantryman, had the upper hand. Wrestling, in particular, was his specialty; he was skilled enough to break a bear's neck with his bare hands.
“Whoa...”
As gasps of admiration erupted from all around, Bauer turned his head with a triumphant expression. But the object of their admiration wasn't Bauer, it was Rian. Everyone was staring at him, unable to look away.
Rian's body was developed down to the smallest muscle. It was astonishing that so many different muscles could exist beneath human skin. It gave the impression of being perfectly condensed. A hardness radiated from him, as if he had been put in a mold and compressed.
Even the male cadets who prided themselves on their physiques were mesmerized, so it was only natural that Tess's eyes were filled with hearts.
‘Rian...’
But her gaze soon turned wistful. She knew how much pain Rian had endured to achieve his current body.
After consuming the arm of Ymir, Rian's right arm had developed abnormally. While his strength had increased, the loss of balance was by no means a good thing.
From then on, Rian undertook an extreme training regimen, swinging a club heavier than a greatsword 3,000 times a day.
The feedback mechanism of a living organism was truly amazing; over time, his entire body began to develop in a way that balanced his right arm.
The result of that process was Rian's current body.
Having achieved perfect physical balance, his muscular strength was now a staggering four times greater than it had been six months ago.
He might just be the strongest person alive who couldn't use Schema.
‘He molded his body to his sword.’
While the cadets marveled at Rian's appearance, Kuan was focusing on its functional aspects.
This was not a body built for one-dimensional goals like strength or endurance.
It was a form optimized for the act of swinging a sword.
‘But it's quite peculiar. It's not my first time seeing a trained body, yet I feel as if I'm seeing one for the first time.’
Kuan's sense of unease was accurate.
Through the feedback from his abnormal right arm, Rian's body had surpassed the limits of perfection a normal human could achieve.
‘In any case, I'll find out by watching. What that body can do among Schema users.’
Kuan dismissed the thought and raised his head.
“Everyone, listen up. I'll briefly explain today's evaluation.”
The cadets snapped to attention and focused on Kuan. Even Bauer, who had been glaring irritably at Rian, turned his head.
“Wrestling is a core subject for the heavy infantry specialization. Therefore, I won't be demanding any special techniques from rookies like you. You will compete in pairs of two, and striking is permitted in a clinch. It's impossible to distinguish anyway. Due to weight class differences, winning or losing is not part of the evaluation, and you are also free to use 'Folding'.”
The cadets' eyes changed at Kuan's last words.
Schema is a virtual diagram of the human body; its effects are manifested by overlapping several diagrams of a specific build.
'Folding' is an advanced Schema technique where a specific body diagram is folded in half, producing an effect as if two diagrams were overlapped.
For example, if a swordsman with a strength-enhancing base technique tree performs a Fold, their strength will more than double.
At higher levels, two Folds can be performed, which is called a 'Double'.
It progresses in this way to Triple, Quadra, and Penta, and the current known human limit for Folding is seven times.
Of course, even a single Fold is a difficult technique at the cadet level. But this was the Kaizen Sword Academy, the most prestigious institution in Tormia, where the most talented individuals gathered.
Even though they were still treated as rookies by the instructors, more than half of them could perform a basic Fold.
Tess looked back at Rian. As expected, his expression was grim. Rian's skill was not inferior to the other cadets. But as long as Schema was part of the evaluation, last place would always be his.
Folding was not the only Schema technique.
Countless other advanced techniques had been developed, such as 'Permeation', which manifested the properties of two body diagrams at once; 'Reversal', which inverted a technique build; and 'Intersection', which folded a body diagram diagonally.